The fires of the Ye Estate reflected in Shen Yuan's pitch-black eyes. He didn't head for the secret mountain pass. Instead, he turned deeper into the burning mansion, toward the Patriarch's private study.
"Han! What are you doing? The Lin family elders are already in the inner court!" Ye Fan hissed, his voice trembling as he stumbled over a charred corpse.
"I am no longer 'Han', boy," Shen Yuan replied without looking back. Every step he took left a faint, smoky footprint on the scorched floor. "And if you want to rebuild this pathetic excuse for a clan, we need more than just your lives. We need the Black Jade Coffin."
Ye Lin gasped, her face turning even paler. "The Ancestral Relic? But... only those with the pure Ye bloodline can open the seal! Even my father couldn't fully unlock its secrets!"
"Your father was a frog at the bottom of a well," Shen Yuan sneered. "He tried to open a lock with a hammer. I intend to speak to the spirit within."
They reached the study just as the roof groaned, ready to collapse. In the center of the room, surrounded by a dying blue protective array, sat a small box made of obsidian-like jade.
"Stop right there!"
A thunderous voice shook the room. A middle-aged man in crimson robes—an Elder of the Zhou family—burst through the side wall. His aura was suffocating, a 7th-layer Qi Condensation expert.
"A servant and two stray dogs think they can claim the Ye treasure? Die!" The Elder roared, his palm glowing with searing heat as he launched a Blazing Tiger Strike.
The air distorted from the heat. Ye Fan screamed, closing his eyes.
Shen Yuan didn't flinch. He didn't even raise his hands.
"[First Gate: The Whispering Void]"
Suddenly, the shadows in the room—the shadows cast by the very fires consuming the house—shuddered. They detached from the walls like black ink and swirled around Shen Yuan, forming a rotating shield of pure darkness.
The Blazing Tiger hit the shadows. There was no explosion. The fire was simply... swallowed. The heat vanished, replaced by a soul-chilling frost.
"What?! My Flame Art was neutralized by a mere servant?!" The Elder's eyes nearly popped out. "What demonic technique is this?"
"Demonic?" Shen Yuan took a step forward, the shadows under his feet rising to wrap around his legs like ethereal armor. "You mortals call everything you don't understand 'demonic'. To me, this is just... basic arithmetic."
Shen Yuan flicked his finger. A shard of solidified shadow shot out like a crossbow bolt.
The Elder tried to dodge, but the shadow followed him, curving in mid-air with a mind of its own. It pierced his shoulder, and instantly, the man's Qi began to leak out, turning into grey mist.
"My cultivation! You're draining my base!" The Elder screamed in agony, falling to his knees as his skin began to shrivel.
"I don't have time for your theatrics," Shen Yuan said, walking past the dying man. He placed his hand on the Black Jade Coffin.
He didn't use blood. He didn't use a key. He pulsed his soul—the soul of a Sovereign—directly into the jade.
CLICK.
The box didn't just open; it shattered, revealing a single, withered finger-bone wrapped in golden silk. The [Bone of the First Ancestor].
"The lineage of the Ye Clan started with a grave robber," Shen Yuan chuckled, feeling the immense necrotic energy within the bone. "How fitting. This will be the perfect catalyst for my Second Gate."
He tucked the bone into his robe and turned to the siblings.
"The roof is falling. The Elders are coming. Now... we go to the forest."
As they leaped out of the window into the night, the entire study collapsed behind them, burying the screaming Zhou Elder in ash.
Shen Yuan looked toward the dark silhouettes of the Black Spirit Forest.
"Tonight, the hunters become the sacrifices. And I... I am the priest."